Fireflies
by ICanFlyHigher
Summary: A brotherly USUK drabble in honor of America's birthday.


By the time England's ship arrived in an American port, England's pocket watch read seven o'clock. The sun was high in the western sky, and the air was just starting to cool. It was hot and dry, and England's suit clung to him with sweat. Encouraged by the thought of a home cooked meal and seeing America for the first time in months, he quickly reached his colony's home and knocked on his door. The maid, Mary opened it and smiled. "Mr. Arthur! What a pleasant surprise! The young Master has been asking when you were going to visit. He is in his room." England nodded and stepped inside.

"Mary, will you fix me a cup of tea?"

Mary nodded and rushed into the kitchen. England walked down the hall to America's room. England pushed the door open and smiled. America sat at a desk, drawing.

"America." The boy turned around and grinned.

"England!" He ran up to the older country and hugged him tightly.

"Okay, squirt, let go! You're gonna knock me over!" America let go of his guardian, ran back to his desk and gingerly picked up a jar.

"Look at what I caught yesterday!" He handed the jar to England. It looked empty in the room's dims light, until a dot of green appeared inside of it. More and more dots stared blinking and England realized it was full of fireflies. "Fireflies? Where did you find fireflies?" America laughed. "Why are you laughing?"

The little boy stopped smiling and stared at his big brother in disbelief.

"You can find fireflies everywhere! In the summer, I go sit outside and watch them. Come on, don't you have fireflies in England?" He said.

"Of course there are fireflies in England! You just hardly see them anymore..."

America gasped. "This is terrible! Maybe that's why you're so grumpy, you don't have fireflies! I know-"

"Grumpy? I beg your pardon!"

"- let go outside and catch some for you! You can put them in a jar and take them home to England!" America smiled. "Yeah! That's what we should do!" He looked up at England. "Can we?"

England wouldn't have said no, even if he had wanted to. He hardly had time to visit anymore, so he didn't want to turn down any of America's ideas. Also, the idea of letting lose as having a little fun was strangely inviting. America cheered and grabbed his hand, pulling him out the door. He ran to the kitchen door and peeked through the keyhole to see if Mary was inside.

"Miss Mary doesn't like it when I put bugs inside her jars. She says that it's gross..." America whispered.

England laughed but America covered his mouth with one of his tiny hands and shushed him. "She's gonna hear you!"

Apparently, Mary had heard him. She opened the door. "Oh! Mr. Arthur, I just finished pouring the tea... Do you need something else?" She asked.

"No, no. I just wanted to see if the tea was ready." He walked into the kitchen and picked up a tea cup from the tray.

"You look tired, why don't you go lay down?" He said, taking a long sip. Mary yawned. "Yes, a quick nap sounds nice." She walked away, shutting the door behind her.

England put down the cup and threw open the door to the pantry.

"Now... Where does she keep her jam jars?"

"The row second from the bottom."

England picked up a jar and handed it to America. "Will this work?" America nodded and the two of them walked into the backyard. The sun was setting, leaving traces of pink and orange across the darkening sky.

"They should be coming out any minute now." America mumbled, plopping down on the grass. England sat down next to him and waited. The fireflies started blinking as soon as the sun sank behind the trees on the edge of the property. They floated above his head, dancing in the dark. England couldn't believe just how many there were. When he was younger, he had watched the fireflies all the time, but he had never seen so many at once. America handed him the jar and stood up. He clapped his hands over a firefly and pulled his tiny fists up to his eye, looking in-between his fingers to see if he caught it. He giggled and opened his hands, watching as the firefly flew away. England watched the boy run in circles, chasing the lightning bugs.

"England?"

"Hm?"

"You haven't caught any fireflies yet. Do you need help catching one?" America tilted his head to the side and smiled.

"Thank you, but no thank you. Catching fireflies is easy." England lunged and clapped is hand over one. "See?" He opened his hands for America to see, only to notice that his hand was empty.

America raised an eyebrow. England frowned and clapped his hand over another lightning bug. Once again, his hands were empty. America laughed.

"Yup. Defiantly easy." England glared at him and grabbed at another firefly. He chased them around the yard, missing every time. America sat down and laughed. With each giggle, England grew more determined to catch a firefly.

America was starting to nod off when England ran up to him, hands clasped together, grinning.

"I caught one! I said I would, and I did!" He said, shoving his hands into America's face. The boy opened one eye and nodded. He yawned. "That's great." He closed his eye and lay back down on the grass.

"America?" The little country didn't move. England sighed and smiled. He let go of his firefly and scooped his colony up. America mumbled something and shifted in his arms. He carried him inside.

"I'll take him to his room and put him to bed." Mary said, walking into the hallway.

"No, it's fine. I can do that."

England carried America to his room and placed him on the bed. He unlaced his shoes and slid off his socks. He pulled a quilt out of the box by the foot of the bed and covered the little boy with it. England brushed a strand of hair off of America's forehead and walked to the door.

"England?" England turned. America's eyes were still closed, but he was smiling slightly. "Thanks for visiting. I'm glad you're my big brother."

England smiled softly. "I'm glad too..." He turned off the gas lamp hanging by the door and walked to the guest room, where he dreamed of fireflies and his little brother's sweet smile.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

**I love drabbles! This was originally about fireworks but it somehow changed to fireflies. I love brotherly England, even if he is very OOC when I write him. Speaking of colonial times…happy birthday America! I promised I would sit down and write something for Independence Day, and for once, I did! **


End file.
